The Deseret News took home 20 writing, photography and layout awards Friday - more than any other newspaper in the Utah-Idaho-Spokane Associated Press Association competition.
The Deseret News won six of 15 first-place awards including an award for spot news coverage of the Jan. 1, 1989, Quail Creek dike failure in southern Utah. Reporters Wil Grey, Craig Holyoak, Lee Davidson, Kathryn Clayton and Joseph Bauman combined to cover the disaster that damaged 60 homes and 100 apartment units.Sports writer Brad Rock received a first place award for a feature story on Knute Rockne III. Lois M. Collins won first place for a social issues column that runs weekly on the editorial pages. Lee Benson won a first place in sports columns for his popular column that runs four times a week.
Today section editor Carma Wadley received the first place honor in the category of family/lifestyle pages and photographer Ravell Call won the first place photo sequence award for his pictures of a roller derby at the Salt Palace.
The Deseret News received three second-place awards, including an honor for the best front page design. Kurt Kragthorpe, who covers the Utah Jazz won a second-place award in sports reporting and Washington Bureau Chief Lee Davidson was honored in the investigative reporting category.
Seven third-place awards were given to Deseret News staffers. Davidson and Joel Campbell were honored for their spot news coverage of the June 1988 Texas murders of four former followers of Ervil LeBaron - the late polygamist and convicted murderer. Doug Robinson won a third-place award for his sports column and won another third-place award in sports reporting for a story on Henry Marsh's last quest to make the Olympic team during the trials in Indianapolis.
Photo editor Tom Smart received a third-place honor in spot news photography for his photo of the arrest of a Salt Lake City jewelry thief minutes after the crime and Jerry Spangler received the third-place award in the light features category. Scott Taylor received the third-place honor in the columns category for his regular Utah County column and photographer Garry Bryant won the third-place award in sports photography for a photo of an equestrian rider and his horse falling over a hurdle.
Honorable mentions went to Rock for sports reporting, Taylor for sports features, Assistant Managing Editor Don Woodward in column writing and JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells for investigative reporting.
Here's a complete listing of the AP awards in the Division A category for newspapers of more than 50,000 circulation:
Writing
Spot News: 1. Grey, Holyoak, Davidson, Clayton, Bauman - Deseret News; 2. Mike Carter, Dan Bates - The Salt Lake Tribune. 3. Davidson, Campbell - Deseret News.
Light Features: 1. Diana Dawson - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle. 2. Michael Guilfoil - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle. 3. Spangler - Deseret News.
Serious Features: 1. Jim Woolf - The Salt Lake Tribune. 2. Carter - The Salt Lake Tribune. 3. Karen Dorn Steel - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle; Honorable mention - Dawson, Theresa Goffredo - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle.
Editorials: 1. Peggy Boss Barney - Standard-Examiner. 2. Susan Whaley - The Idaho Statesman. 3. Paul Wetzel - The Salt Lake Tribune.
Sports Reporting: 1. Tom Wharton - The Salt Lake Tribune; 2. Kragthorpe - Deseret News; 3. Robinson - Deseret News; Honorable mention - Rock - Deseret News.
Sports Features: 1. Rock - Deseret News; 2. Paul Turner - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle; 3. Jim Wright - Standard-Examiner; Honorable mention - Taylor - Deseret News.
Columns: 1. Collins - Deseret News. 2. Wharton - The Salt Lake Tribune; 3. Taylor - Deseret News; Honorable mention - Woodward - Deseret News.
Sports Columns: 1. Benson - Deseret News. 2. Dan Weaver - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle; 3. Robinson - Deseret News.
Best Front Page: 1. Sheree Josephson - Standard-Examiner; 2. Deseret News; 3. Jim Allen - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle.
Investigative Reporting: 1. Don Baker, Mark Peterson - Standard-Examiner. 2. Davidson - Deseret News; 3. Dawson, Russell Carollo - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle; Honorable Mention - Jacobsen-Wells - Deseret News.
Family-Lifestyle Pages: 1. Wadley - Deseret News; 2. The Salt Lake Tribune; 3. John Nelson - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle.
Photos
Spot News: 1. Kit King - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle; 2. Colin Mulvany, - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle; 3. Smart - Deseret News; Honorable mention - Dan Pelle - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle.
Features: 1. Gary Clark - Standard-Examiner; 2. King - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle; 3. Mark Thiessen - The Idaho Statesman; Honorable mention - Mulvany - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle.
Sports: 1. Steve Griffin - The Salt Lake Tribune; 2. Jeff Allred - The Salt Lake Tribune; 3. Bryant - Deseret News; Honorable mention - Shawn Jacobson - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle.
Sequence: 1. Call - Deseret News. 2. Chris Anderson - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle; 3. King - Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle; Honorable mention - Teri Davis - The Idaho Statesman.